It’s been a manic week for me. I had an opportunity to go on the National Standard Cycling Instructor’s Course, so I thought, why not squeeze that in, along with my work at 6am and training for a crazy run in three weeks time? Hmm...Of course, being organised is the key to fitting training in, even when your routine gets disrupted. It might mean a week of early starts, such as getting up at 4:30am every morning (which I did) and yes it was hideous, as I was also training in the gym until 9pm or running at 10pm on my treadmill. However, it was only last week, and I dealt with it by reminding myself it was only for one week. Humans are pretty good at adapting, and mental tiredness doesn’t mean you can’t do your usual exercise such as, go for your run or bike ride, or do strength training with weights. Once you overcome the mental barriers, you will actually surprise yourself. I know I did, I literally dragged myself to the gym last night, as it shuts early at weekends and I didn’t want to miss my training this week. Once I got there, I did a really good weights session, my body wasn’t physically affected at all. On the other hand, do remember that physical tiredness is totally different, your body feels fatigued, and you should listen to it, it needs rest then to rebuild and recover, but it is NOT the same as lethargy.You need to work out whether it is physical or mental tiredness, and not deceive yourself. It is only yourself that you are cheating. When you are feeling tired, is that your brain that is tired? It is incredibly easy to make excuses, and talk yourself out of it; all you seem to focus on is the effort to start with. You have to see past that and think how good you will feel afterwards. Oh, and as for the Cycling Course, I partly did that as a little test to myself and to trust a belief in myself. You see, when I was little and had just moved to England, I went to the last year of Primary School, to be faced with a Cycling Proficiency Test. I have to point out that I hadn’t been living in England long and where I was we didn’t have roundabouts ( and I am still convinced the traffic light system was different , not that I am trying to make excuses). And well, you have guessed it; I actually failed my Cycling Proficiency!! To make matters worse (and you can hear the violins playing now) it was on my birthday. My father was not impressed and quite angry. I was mortified. It even put me off driving for years. Ok, maybe I was oversensitive, but it really knocked my self confidence. It was humiliating when the Teacher said; ‘Well done everyone for passing, oh, except for Wanda’. Sometimes it is all about confidence and a bit of self belief. Even when you have failed, it doesn’t mean you are a failure, it is just a moment in time, and you need to let it go, not let it define you. You can always, try again, even 30 years later! (And I passed, this time as an Instructor, just in time for my Birthday! :-) )

Imanaged to do something really stupid today. I arrived at a Client’s house in the morning after an hour’s drive. I got out of my Renault Kangoo and amazingly the sun was out. Feeling warm, I took off my fleece, forgetting I had put my keys in my pocket. I threw my fleece onto my seat and closed the driver’s door. Clunk, clonk, clunk, hmm…there goes the central locking on ALL the doors. Terrific.To make matters worse, I had left in the car, my phone and wallet, and my jumper. So of course, the sun went in.Bearing in mind that I was 40 miles away from where I next had to be to work, I was a bit stuck. I had no money on me, so I was left with the option of hitching. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t condone hitching, but I when I was younger, I hitched right up to … well about four years ago, when I finally passed my driving test, so I was pretty experienced at it. So, how hard could it be nowadays to hitch? I was about to find out!I was in Newquay and it was 10:30am. I had to be in Praa Sands for 11:30am. I was also still a couple of miles from the roundabout out of Newquay. Thankfully I had my running shoes on.At the roundabout, there were a lot of smart arses waving at me and sticking their thumbs up, along with other fingers that seemed unnecessary considering my predicament. Lift one, got me half way up the hill out of Newquay. Not a great start, but at least I had a change of scenery.The second lift took me took to Goss- more, since the driver assured me this was a quicker way to Penzance. Being quite well known for my ability to get lost even in my own home town, this was a bad move.Third lift, didn’t happen because apparently I was hitching to Bodmin.Fourth lift, was with a guy in a convertible. He told me about how he had locked his keys in his boot and had to pay £150 for a locksmith, this story didn’t really make me feel a whole lot better. He didn’t know his way around Cornwall either, although he did have the excuse that he didn’t actually live here. So, somehow I ended up at Chiverton Cross roundabout. Not the best place to hitch from to say the least.I couldn’t hitch on the actual roundabout, as there was nowhere for a car to stop, so I walked along the road into Truo a little way and took my chances that a car going to Penzance would stop for me.Car after car, after van, after clever dick with the fingers, after beeps , after car drove past me…when finally a car turned around for me and stopped. Relieved I asked the driver where he was going. ‘Perranporth’, was the reply. My heart sank. Then, very kindly he offered to take me to Penzance despite it being in the opposite direction. I was touched by his generosity.We got talking in the car, I told him what had happened and how I had to be at work near Penzance. He asked me what I did and I said I was a Personal Trainer. We were approaching a traffic jam, so with time to kill, and after apologising some more for taking up his time and petrol, I waffled on about how I train people who have been in catastrophic accidents, such as Amputees, I even mentioned about Darren, who I mentioned in my last blog and his incredible achievements on the balance board, considering he had an above the knee amputation. I also mentioned how he had been hit by a drunk driver. He looked surprised and said not many people would want to train Amputees. I was surprised at this, but then he smiled at me and looked down at his lap and said; ‘I would know’. I glanced down, and to my amazement, he had had his leg amputated above the knee. I hadn’t even noticed. Incredible I thought, after all the other people who had driven by me, or stuck their fingers up, this guy had turned around to pick me up. This lovely, generous, guy told me about how he too had been hit by a drunk driver whilst on his motorbike five years ago. He had only moved to Cornwall two weeks ago and was originally from Lincolnshire, where he would never dream of picking up hitch hikers, he wasn’t even sure why he stopped for me. I was really moved by this guy and his lack of bitterness and his positive outlook on getting on with life. He told me that the Doctors had told him that he would never walk again, but now he was walking with crutches. He told me how he is determined to get back to mountain climbing but is waiting first for another operation, and then will get fitted with a prosthesis. He also said that after a period of feeling sorry for himself, as he called it (which was totally warranted) that there was no point living life full of self pity or being angry about what had happened, because that’s life. There are moments in our lives when our luck seems to be down, and things aren’t going right, and you have a wallowing moment. I stupidly had one today just because I was faced with an inconvenience. Lee faces major inconveniences everyday. He has to cope with his one leg. Yet it was Lee who picked me up when noone else did at Chiverton Cross. So, thank you Lee, not only for giving me a lift that was out of your way, but reminding me that there are some lovely people still out there.

So...not long until my run in Jordan! I will be flying out on May 11th. The race starts on May 13th. You will be able to follow it and I will post a link nearer the time.So far I have raised 35% of my target of £1000 for Shelterbox. I hope I can raise it in time. Huge thanks for everyone who has donated so far on my justgiving page (you can find the icon that takes you to the page all over my website ..hint!). Your support means a huge amount to me. Please don't stop donating!!I have managed most of my training for the 150 mile self sufficient race, almost injury free. Last Tuesday I completed a 46.5 mile run along the Cornish coast from Lizard to Lands End with a rucksack weighing 7kg. At around 32 miles I started to get cramps. Annoyingly I had forgotten to pack anything salty and my electrolytes were not doing the trick. It was about 7pm and I was on the tricky finish of the coastal path route from Larmona to Lands End. Each time I clambered over a rock, either my hip flexor or calf would cramp up. I was contemplating making a detour to a nearby pub ...no, not to drown my sorrows..., but to buy a bag of crisps or salty peanuts. However, as luck would have it, I crossed paths with a lovely lady who had hiked from Treen. I explained my dilemma and asked if she knew the best place to purchase something salty.As if by magic she produced from her bag some Taokaenoi Crispy Seaweed, (I can hear some of you going urgh!) it was amazing. My cramps stopped instantly. I am now on the hunt for it so that I can buy some to take to Jordan with me. If anyone knows where I can buy it from, please message me!Incidentally, I owe my lack of injuries to my strength training routine which I include three times a week as well as my running. I concentrate on doing low weight/high rep leg extensions. I also hold the leg extension as an isometric contraction for up to 60 seconds, doing one leg at a time. These type of exercises really develop the muscles surrounding the knees, they act as shock absorbers as well as stabilisers, minimalising potential ligament damage from high mileage coupled with uneven terrain. I hear time and time again, clients saying that running has 'caused' their bad knees, or that they can't run because they have bad knees. It isn't the running itself that is the problem, it is usually poor running technique, poor footwear or increasing mileage too quickly without allowing time for the muscles to get conditioned, and often it just highlights a knee problem that is already there. Even if you are very fit and active, if you are not used to running, but decide that you are suddenly going to start doing lots of miles because your fitness is there - stop! Introduce running gradually because there really isn't any sport that uses the running muscles - like running does! You need to condition those legs first. If you train properly, there is no reason why you should get bad knees.